Workast Help Center

Quick start guide

Welcome to Workast! This is a quick guide to show you how to being to use Workast.

Creating tasks

There are four ways to create tasks with Workast:

Within Slack using the /todo command

Within Slack using the task composer

Within the Workast web application

Using the task creation shortcut key in Workast

To create a task in Slack using the /todo command:

In a channel or in a direct message, type /todo followed by the task details, including the name of the task, the assignee (if applicable) using the @ key, and the due date (if applicable). For example - /todo order file folders @kay Thursday 10am

Press enter to create the task. The task will now be created in the channel or conversations, and all participants of the channel can view the task. As long as they have their notifications turned on, assignees will also get notified of the task in their todobot channel. (Notifications on is the default setting.)

To create a task in Slack using the task composer:

Type the command /todo in a Slack channel and hit enter. The task composer pane will appear.

Click on the drop-down menu under Space and choose the space/channel for your task. The task will be created in the default list in that space/channel.

Type the task title in the Summary line.

You can add a task description in the Description section.

Click the drop-down menu under "Assign to" to assign the task to a single user. (You can edit the task after creation to add additional assignees.)

Enter a due date either by using the drop down menu or typing your due date and/or time in the due date field.

On the left hand side, click on the channel that you would like to create a new task in.

Click on the "New Task" button, which will show you where you can start typing your new task

Type the name of the task, and hit tab if you'd like to assign the task to a user. Press enter to save.

The task will have been created in the list. To customize the task, click on the task to expand it.

Note : If the channel is not shown in Workast, go to the corresponding channel in Slack and type /todo list, which will create a list for that channel

To create a task using the task creation shortcut key in the web app:

Mouseover the + button in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen in the Workast web app. The + will turn into a pen icon and the text "Create a task" will appear - click on the pen.

A new task creation window will open.

If you will be creating multiple tasks, check the "Create another" box in the bottom left

In the top of the screen, choose the space where you would like the task from the drop down menu by clicking on the arrow key to the right of the first space name.

Once the space field is chosen, a list field will populate - choose the list for the task in the same way, using the arrow to the right to scroll through the possible lists.

Type the task name in the "Summary" field.

Enter a description if desired by typing in the description field.

Add a due date if desired by clicking the + next to "Due Date" or "Select a due date"

Add an assignee if desired by clicking on the + next to "Assigned" or "Assign task to a user."

Add a tag if desired by clicking on the + next to "Tag" or "Select a tag"

Click "Create" to create the task

If you checked the "Create another" box, the task creation field will reappear again so you can create more tasks. When you are about to finish creating your final task, un-check that box to exit the screen. You can also select "Cancel" at any time to exit the task creation screen.

Assigning tasks to team members or to myself

There are three ways to assign a task:

When creating a task in Slack

By using the drop-down message menu

By using the Workast web application

When creating a task in Slack:

The quickest way to assign a task to a team member or to yourself in Slack is when you create a task

To create a new task in Slack, type "/todo" followed by the task details. To assign a team member when you create the task, tag the team member's username.

To assign a task to yourself when creating the task, replace the username with "@me"

If you have created a task and you did not assign a team member to the task, use the drop down menu here to assign the task to yourself or a team member. You can also access the message menu for a task by typing /todo list in the channel containing the task then selecting the task,

When you click the message menu, you will have a few options. Choose "Assign To..." to assign the task to another team member or the "Assign to me" to assign the task to yourself.

Once the user is chosen, the task will be updated with the new assignee.

You can follow the same process to assign more than one person to a task

Using the Workast browser app:

To open Workast from Slack, simply click on any of the blue Task IDs in any of the channels. (You can also login to Workast by clicking this link. ) Clicking on the Task ID will open up the task details page in Workast.

If you are already in Workast, open the list that contains the task, and click on the task to expand it.

Either click on the + next to the "Assigned" heading or on the "Assign task to a user" text

This will bring up a user list, and also allow you to search for a user

Click on a user to assign them to the task. The user will automatically receive a notification in their todobot channel in Slack that they have been assigned to a task.

Setting a due date and time

There are three ways to set a due date:

When creating a task in Slack

By using Slack buttons and message menus

By using the Workast web application

When creating a task in Slack:

When you create a task in Slack using /todo you can set a due date and time by typing the due date in the task details. You can use either an exact date, or a day of the week. For example: /todo book caterer April 4 9am or /todo webinar planning 4/8/18

Please note - the date and time can be in any format recognized by Slackbot, but must be set in the future. You can create a task that is due the same day, but you must specify a time later than the current time. For example, if it is currently March 1st at 12:00 pm, you could create a task /todo Emergency meeting 3/1 2pm.

Using Slack buttons and message menus:

You can add a due date after you have created a task by using the drop-down message menu

After the task is created, click on the message menu, and scroll down to "Set Due Date."

A new field will be created which will allow you to enter the due date and time. There are suggested due date options that you can use, or you can type your own date and time.

You can also use this method to edit an existing due date

If you want to edit the due date of a task that was created in the past, type /todo list in the channel containing the task, the choose the task from the list. You'll then have the same editing menu options to edit the task.

Using the Workast web application

To open Workast from Slack, simply click on any of the blue Task IDs in any of the channels. (You can also login to Workast by clicking this link. ) Clicking on the Task ID will open up the task details page in Workast.

If you are already in Workast, open the list that contains the task, and click on the task to expand it.

Either click on the + next to the "Due Date" heading or click on "Select a due date"

This will bring up a calendar, where you are able to set a due date and time. At the bottom of the calendar, you can also choose to make the task repeat, and adjust the repeating frequency.

Completing a task

There are multiple ways to complete tasks, including:

Using the Slack drop-down message menus and buttons

Using the /todo done command in Slack

Using the Workast web application

Using the drop-down message menus and buttons in Slack

To bring up a list of tasks in a channel, type /todo list. You can also bring up all of your tasks in any channel by typing /mytodo list. Either command will bring up a list of tasks.

Once the list is shown in the Slack channel, use the drop-down message menu under the heading "Select a task to mark as completed" to select a task. One the task is selected, it is marked as complete.

The channel will be shown a notification that the task is complete.

Tasks can also be completed using the drop down menu when they are first created, and in your todobot channel when you are either reminded about or assigned a task by selecting the "complete" button.

Using the /todo done command in Slack

To complete a task using the command line, simply type /todo done followed by the four digit blue task ID. For example - /todo done T112